1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to network web sites, specifically to their use for securely distributing sensitive information over networks such as the Internet.
2. Prior Art
The evolution of electronic networks and networking devices has included the continued development and refinement of the documents that are transmitted over the networks. Of major importance has been the introduction of syntax and format standards for creating information documents. The most popular of these is called hypertext markup language (“HTML”). The HTML standards dictate the way that document creators “mark up” the text in a document to control the way it is displayed when downloaded to a viewer of that document. Such a document is usually called a “page”. The HTML standards also specify how a collection of related pages might interact when they are downloaded from the same location in a network server, usually called a “web site”.
The above developments in documents have, of necessity, gone hand-in-hand with the development of software programs that locate web sites, download their pages, and display them on site visitor's systems. Such a program is called a “browser”. The use of the browser to download and display HTML pages from a web site has been established as the most popular method for distributing information over networks.
As technology has progressed, browsers have been given the capability to recognize and execute a script which is included in a page. This script is, in effect, a browser-executed program which can perform dynamic functions related to the page while it is being downloaded and displayed. Such functions can greatly enhance the usefulness of a web site to both the viewers of its pages and the site developers, and can also provide ways to use the web site and its pages in new ways.
One new and useful application for web sites, given their popularity and familiar viewing procedures, would be to serve as safe and convenient channels for distributing sensitive or proprietary information in obfuscated form to authorized recipients. Such a capability would require web pages with a self-contained capability to display obfuscated information in clear text while being downloaded in accordance with the standards for browser operations.
Although there are other ways to distribute obfuscated documents over networks, recipients can view them only by going beyond the standard and familiar procedures involved in browsing a web site. To view such document files, the recipient must engage in separate decryption-related communications and/or operating procedures, and utilize additional software and/or hardware, all requiring skill and effort beyond that needed for a standard network web site visit. Also, these methods usually obfuscate only entire files, and in some cases require functionality beyond that available in newer, network-specific user devices being introduced to the marketplace.
In my search of relevant prior art to determine whether better methods for distributing sensitive information are being disclosed, I find nothing that proposes using the highly regarded web site for such a task.